school supplies

Last week I purchased 200 pencils, 80 big erasers and 10 boxes of crayons for Kitale Family School (also known as Lighthouse) on behalf of my mom’s office! The students at this school come from very poor families and many are orphans.  In fact, a majority of the students who attend school here are supported by outside sponsors because their families can in no way pay for schooling.  Each student is given one pencil at the beginning of the year and that is their pencil for the year.  When I asked Jane, the principal of Lighthouse, if we could purchase pencils for her students she threw her hands up in the air and declared that this was an answer to prayer.  She had been watching her students struggle to stay on top of their schoolwork because many of the kids had to share pencils with one another.  Could you imagine trying to write down and therefore absorb all the information that your teacher is sharing with you when you don't even have anything to take notes with half of the time?  I've always had enough pencils, enough erasers, enough everything.  It's hard to understand how these kids do what they do.  The school is also very excited to have crayons! This is a rarity for a school here and is such an exciting blessing for the kids.  Art classes do not exist here typically because there are no resources available for such classes.  With crayons, these kids will get to experience the simply joy of drawing in color!  Her office also plans to purchase pencil sharpeners to mount on the wall in each of the school’s classrooms.  This will be a tremendous blessing for these students.  Instead of 200 children sharing a handful of razor blades to sharpen their pencils, each classroom will be equipped with a pencil sharpener.   

I want to thank my mom’s colleagues for being willing to bless the children of Kitale in this manner.  School supplies mean more to them than we, as Americans, will ever understand.  Please trust me when I tell you that this is no small gesture.  This is something that will heavily impact and bless these kids' lives.  While a pencil is a simple thing, it means the world to a child who has nothing.  It gives them joy and hope, while also helping to advance their education.  Thank you so much for partnering with me to transform lives here in Kenya!

Clara, the office assistant at Lighthouse, and I after our trip into to town (while it was POURING rain!) to purchase the school supplies!